Mounting device with transfer means for advancing tubular sleeves between different work stations

ABSTRACT

The disclosure relates to an apparatus for the arrangement and preparation of cores (13) intended for use as reel cores in papermaking in a number of stations with tools for carrying out a number of working operations in and/or on each one of the ends of the cores (13), the stations being disposed in side-by-side relationship and having opening and closing grippers (16) for fixedly retaining the core (13) which is to be arranged and prepared, in each respective station during the execution of one or more working operations therein, the opening and closing grippers (16) being disposed on the one, free end of an arm (17) which is located at each end of the core (13) and which, at the opposite end in relation to the opening and closing grippers (16), is pivotal about a shaft (18) located beside the station. Furthermore, the arms (17), with the opening and closing grippers (16), are interconnected for simultaneous pivoting about the shaft (18) for transferring a core (13) substantially non-rotatably fixedly held by the grippers (16), from the above-mentioned station to the immediately subsequent station, in which open grippers (16) are arranged to be closed about the core (13) and thereby grasp and fixedly retain the core (13) in an orientationally controlled position before the preceding grippers (16) are opened for release of the core (13).

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the arrangement, orpreparation, of cores intended for use as reel cores in paper-making, ina number of stations, with tools for executing a number of workingoperations, for example expanding the inner diameter of the core by amilling machine or the like, providing a radial slot in the end edge ofthe core by means of a saw or slot milling cutter, orientation of endmountings, movement of the end mounting to the end of the core andexpansion of the end mounting for fixation thereof in the end of thecore, etc., in and/on each one of the ends of the cores, the stationsbeing disposed in side-by-side relationship and being provided withopening and closing grabber claws or grippers for retaining that corewhich is to be prepared, in each respective station, during theexecution of one or more working operations therein.

A previously known apparatus for the arrangement, or preparation, ofcores for use as reel cores for winding up the paper web in paper-makingis provided with a number of working stations for executing a number ofworking operations simultaneously on each one of the ends of the core.In the prior art apparatus, it is, int. al., necessary to execute anorientation of the core and, primarily, a rotational orientation of thecore in each working station before the working operation proper may becommenced. Since the rotational orientation phase must be executedautomatically, this not only entails an extremely complicatedconstruction of each working station, but also implies a serious sourceof faults and deficient accuracy in the finished, end fitted cores. Notleast as a result of these inconveniences, the prior art apparatus hasfailed to achieve any appreciable success on the market.

The task forming the basis of the present invention is to improve theprior art apparatus and, above all, to eliminate the requirement ofexecution of an orientation phase before the execution of a workingoperation in most of the different working stations.

This task is solved according to the present invention in the apparatusdisclosed by way of introduction, in that the opening and closinggrippers are disposed on the one, free end of an arm which is located ateach end of the core and which, at the opposite end in relation to theopening and closing grippers, is pivotal about a shaft disposed besidethe station; and that the arms with the opening and closing grippers areinterconnected with one another for simultaneous pivoting about theshaft for transferal of a core substantially non-rotatably retained bymeans of the grippers from the above-mentioned station to theimmediately subsequent station, in which open grippers are arranged tobe closed about the core and thereby grasp and retain the core in anorientationally controlled position before the preceding grippers areopened for release of the core. The one arm located at one end of thecore with its opening and closing grippers is reciprocally displaceablein relation to the other arm disposed at the opposite end of the corewith its opening and closing grippers, for adaptation of the distancebetween the arms to accommodate the length of the core. The shiftablearm is coupled to a carriage which mounts the tool or tools forexecuting the working operations in and/or on the one end of the coreand is in its turn displaceable on rails for adaptation to the length ofeach and every core, like the corresponding carriage in the otherstations, in which the carriages in the subsequent stations are arrangedto adjust in compliance with the carriage in the preceding station. Thecarriage is displaceable by means of a screw which is located onsubstantially the same level as the rails and proximal to thelongitudinal axis of the core located in the working position. Thestations are disposed in parallel with one another in such a manner thatthe travel between the centre of a core fixedly retained by the grippersand the centre of the pivotal shaft of the arms is equal in and betweenthe stations. The pivotal shaft for the arms carries a gearwheel forcooperation with a rack with a piston and cylinder assembly at each end,these being interconnected for the positive simultaneous switching ofthe racks in one or the other direction for clockwise orcounter-clockwise pivoting of the arms non-rotationally connectedtherewith. At one station, there is provided a conveyor for advancementof fittings to each core end, at which there is provided a reciprocallymovable arm for one-by-one advancement of fittings from the conveyor toan initial position for rotational orientation of the fitting, in whicha clamping device fixedly clamps the fitting for gripping by means ofopening and closing grippers in the oriented position. The grippers aremounted on a frame which may be switched between a vertical position andan inclined position by the intermediary of a retainer pivotally mountedon the frame and longitudinally displaceable in the frame fortransferring the fitting oriented in the initial position in thegrippers to a position in register with the prepared core end forinsertion therein and subsequent expansion therein by means of amandrel.

The apparatus according to the present invention will wholly obviate theneed of a working phase which rotationally orientates the core prior tothe execution of a working operation in the different working stationsThe apparatus may, thereby, be rendered both simpler and more reliableMoreover, there will be attained a considerable shortening of the totalworking time required for the preparation of a core, by which is takento mean the preparation, for example, expanding and slot milling of theends of a core and provision of the ends of the core with a suitable perse known fitting preferably of metal. In the apparatus according to thepresent invention, the core is held throughout, from the first workingstation to the last working station, in an exact and retainedrotationally oriented position, whereby the risk of deficient accuracyand orientation errors will be completely eliminated.

The nature of the present invention and its aspects will be more readilyunderstood from the following brief description of the accompanyingDrawings, and discussion relating thereto In the accompanying Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of an apparatus accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section, on a larger scale, taken along the line II--II inFIG. 1, certain parts having been omitted for purposes of clarity.

FIG. 3 shows, on the same scale as FIG. 2, a view of a portion of theleft-hand end of the apparatus of FIG. 1, certain parts having beenomitted for purposes of clarity also in this Figure.

FIG. 4 shows a similar section to that of FIG. 2 of another embodimentof an apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a coupling diagram of the arms in the embodiment according toFIG. 4.

The apparatus according to the present invention shown on the Drawingsis intended to provide tubular cores, preferably of board, intended foruse as reel cores in paper-making, with per se known end fittings ofmetal or other suitable material. The cores may be of different lengthsand the apparatus automatically adapts to the length of the suppliedcore. The apparatus according to the present invention shown on theDrawings and described herein has three working stations in whichdifferent working phases or working operations are carried out.According to FIG. 2, the apparatus of the present invention is providedwith three mutually parallel working stations, of which the first is theworking station located furthest to the left, in which the innerdiameter of the core ends is expanded or flared by means of a milling orreaming machine, the second is the centremost working station in whichan edge slot or groove is milled or sawed in the core edge by means ofsaw or slot cutter, and of which the third station is that locatedfurthest to the right, in which an end fitting of metal is urged intothe end of the core and expanded for fixation thereof in the core end.The practical execution of the different working operations in theseseparate working stations does not form part of the subject matter ofthe present invention and the present application, but may be carriedout in a per se known manner and using per se known tools. On the otherhand, the actual handling of the core between the different workingstations and the fittings in the third working station fall within thescope of the present invention. It should, nevertheless, be emphasizedthat the tools for carrying out the working operations at the one end ofthe core are disposed on a carriage which is displaceable in thelongitudinal direction of the apparatus or the machine, and thereby inthe longitudinal direction of the working stations, for adaptation tothe length of the core in question, while the tools for carrying out theworking operations at the other end of the core are disposed at a fixedpoint. Naturally, there is nothing to prevent tools for both the one endand the other end of the core from being disposed on displaceablecarriages which, hence are adjustable according to the length of thecore.

The embodiment of the present invention shown on the Drawings is basedon a frame 1 constructed of longitudinal and transverse square tubes,the frame resting on a substrate or bedding via so-called machine feet2. The parts of the apparatus illustrated to the left in FIG. 1 areassociated with the fixed portion, while the parts shown to the right inFIG. 1 are associated with the displaceable components of the apparatus,which are reciprocally shiftable towards and away from the fixedportions by means of ball screws 3 which are driven by motors 4, themoving parts being displaced on rails 5. The shiftable componentsassociated with each working station are disposed on a carriage 6 whichis in communication with the fixed frame 1 by the intermediary of aflexible cable carrier or cable gantry 7. Those cores which are to bearranged and prepared in the apparatus are advanced to an inserter orloader 8 on a conveyor 9 which extends from a core store or coremagazine. The fittings which are to be applied in the ends of the coresare conveyed on a conveyor 10 to one fixed inserter 11 and one inserter12 movable with the carriage 6.

FIG. 2 shows, by ghosted lines, that core 13 which is to be arranged,partly on the conveyor 9 and partly in the different working stations.The inserter 8 consists of a beam which, by the intermediary of twoarms, is pivotally journalled on a shaft 14 which is rotatable by meansof a piston and cylinder assembly 15. On pivoting of the beam 8counter-clockwise, the core 13 is urged from the conveyor 9 down intothe first working station in which opening and closing grippers 16 ateither end of the core 13 are closed and grasp the core 13 in theposition illustrated in FIG. 2. The opening and closing grippers 16 aredisposed on the end of an arm 17 which, in its turn, is non-rotatablydisposed on a shaft 18 provided with keys and keyways. The shaft 18extends throughout the entire length of the working station. Beneath theopening and closing grippers 16, there are provided positional sensorsfor indicating the position of the opening and closing grippers, andthereby the arm 17. Naturally, the arm 17 is displaceable along theshaft 18 together with the carriage 6 for adaptation of their positionto the length of the core 13.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, each working station, in the above-mentionedrespects, is substantially alike. Thus, each working station is providedwith opening and closing grippers 16 on an arm 17 which isnon-rotatably, but shiftably disposed on the shaft 18 which extendsthroughout the entire length of the working station. For transferringthe core 13 from one station to another and out of the final station,the shaft 18 is reciprocally pivotal through at least 180° by means of agear rack connected to a piston and cylinder assembly 19, the gear rackbeing in engagement with a gear wheel coupled to the shaft 18 or a gearrim directly mounted on the shaft 18. The movable jaws in the grippers16 are switched from open position to closed position and vice versa bymeans of a suitable piston arrangement. As soon as the grippers in thesecond working station are open and are located in the illustratedstarting position, the arm 17 in the first working station may bepivoted clockwise through 180° for placing the core in the grippers 16of the second working station, and, as soon as these have been closed,the grippers 16 of the first working station may be opened and, togetherwith the arm 17 return to the position illustrated in FIG. 2 forreceiving a new core 13 from the conveyor 9. When the working phases inthe second station have been completed, the arm 17 of the second workingstation is pivoted to the third and last working station, on conditionthat the opening and closing grippers 16 therein are open and empty forreceiving the core from the second working station. In this last workingstation, the core ends prepared in the preceding stations are to beprovided with end fittings, as will be illustrated in greater detailbelow with particular reference to FIG. 3. The grippers 16, and possiblyalso the arms 17 in the different working stations as slightly mutuallyoffset to avoid collision.

The inserters 11 and 12 are fundamentally alike, although beingsubstantially mirror-inverted, and, according to FIG. 1, the inserter 12is mounted on the carriage 6 which is displaceable in the longitudinaldirection of the apparatus. End fittings 20 are conveyed on the conveyor10 up to the inserters 11 and 12. Immediately ahead of the inserters 11and 12, there are provided centering guides (not shown) for placing theend fittings 20 centrally on the conveyor 10. Once a fitting 20 haspassed the inserter 11, its insertion piston 21 is switched into such aposition on the conveyor 10 that the next end fitting 20 cannot pass,but can, with the assistance of, for example, magnets be grasped by theend of the piston 21 and moved on slipway 22 to the position shown bysolid lines in FIG. 3. In this position, the end fitting 20 is fixedlyclamped by means of a disk 23 on the end of a piston and cylinderassembly 24. The end fittings 20 are, as a rule, provided with a radiallocking heel groove which is to fit in the edge slot provided on thecore end, for which reason the end fitting 20 must be oriented into theposition illustrated in FIG. 3. This orientation is effected by means ofa rotary mandrel 25. This mandrel is provided with a resiliently sprunglocking heel and is insertable in the end fitting 20. The mandrel 25 isrotated by a motor 26 by the intermediary of a belt 27. As soon as theresiliently sprung heel arrives at the recess or groove in the endfitting 20, the fitting will be caused to rotate with the mandrel 25,which is arranged so as to arrest at a predetermined exact position.When the mandrel 25 has ceased to rotate and come to rest with the endfitting 20 in a predetermined position and with the locking heel recessin a predetermined orientated position, opening and closing grippers 28of substantially the same type as the grippers 16 are arranged to graspthe oriented end fitting 20 and retain it in the set oriented position.

The grippers 28 are mounted on a frame 30 pivotal by means of a pistonand cylinder assembly 29 and the frame may be in the form of a pistonand cylinder assembly. The opening and closing grippers 28 are furthermounted in the frame 30 by means of pivotal arms 31 which are pivotal bymeans of a suitable motor or a suitable piston and cylinder assembly forplacement of the end fitting 20 in the position B indicated by ghostedlines, once the frame has been pivoted, and switched the fitting 20 tothe position A shown by ghosted lines. When the end fitting is locatedin the position B, the frame 30 is returned to the vertical position andthe arms 30 are displaced with the grippers 28 and the end fitting 20 bymeans of the piston and cylinder assembly 30 to the position designatedC. In position C, the end fitting 20 is located in alignment with theend of one core in the last working station and, in this position, canbe urged into the end of the core by means of a mandrel 32 which isreciprocally displaceable by means of a motor 33 and is expandible forexpanding the end fitting 20 when this is located in the correctposition in the end of the core 13.

With an inserter 11 or 12 according to the foregoing, it is possible toachieve an extremely rapid handling of the end fittings 20. While onefitting 20 is located on the mandrel 32 and on its way to being urgedinto and expanded in the end of a core, the grippers 28 are returned tothe starting position for gripping a new fitting which is oriented andfixed by the disk 23. As soon as a fitting 20 has been transferred toposition A, a new fitting may be inserted from the conveyor 10 to theorientation position under the disk 23. Furthermore, the grippers 28 maybe returned as soon as they have released an end fitting on the mandrel32.

The core 13 on the conveyor 9 moves towards an end stop (not shown). Asensor unit on the carriage 6 in the first working station is providedwith two sensors. If both are blocked, the carriage is moved towards thefree end of the core 13. When the one passes the end, the carriage 6 isbraked, to be entirely arrested when the other sensor passes free of theend of the core. When the grippers 16 in the first working station areclosed, the carriage 6 in the second working station will be adjustedaccording to the carriage 6 in the first working with help of a sensorunit of the same type as that mentioned above and, as soon as it is inthe correct position, pivoting of the shaft 18 is made possible for thefirst working station. When the grippers 16 of the second workingstation have grasped about the core, the grippers from the first workingstation are opened for releasing the core in the second working stationand return to the starting position in the first working station. Whenthey have reached starting position, immediate switching is madepossible of the carriage 6 in the first working station to the length ofthe immediately subsequent core, while the core in the second workingstation is in the processing stage. When this core has been transferredto the third working station after positional adjustment of its carriage6, the second working station is ready to receive a new core from thefirst working station. Thus, the working operations proper may becarried out in the different stations completely independently of oneanother. Interdependence between the working stations is only requiredon transfer of the core between them. Discharge of a finished core fromthe third station may possibly be executed with the assistance of othermeans than the grippers 16 on the arms 17 and the shaft 18.

The embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5differs from the above-described embodiment essentially in that theshaft 3 and the rails 5 are located on substantially the same level andclose to the longitudinal axis of the core 13, and in that the arms 17are pivoted by means of other arrangements than in the above-describedembodiment. By the disposition of the shaft 3 and the rails 5 close tothe longitudinal axis of the core 13, the working phase arms will beconsiderably shorter, whereby the loadings will be less, which permitseither lighter parts or greater processing speeds and greater processingforces.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the shaft 18 of the arms17 is rotatably journalled in a housing 49 and carries a gearwheel 50which is in mesh with a gear rack 51 which is switchable by means of anupper piston and cylinder assembly 52 and a lower piston and cylinderassembly 53. The lower piston and cylinder assembly 53 for the arm 17 ofthe one core end is, by the intermediary of a conduit 54, incommunication with the upper piston and cylinder assembly 52 of the arm17 of the other core end, while the upper piston and cylinder assembly52 for the arm of the other core end is, by the intermediary of aconduit 55 with a valve 56, in communication with the lower piston andcylinder assembly 53 of the arm 17 of the opposing core end. The valve56 is coupled to a suitable source of a non-compressible pressuremedium. The pistons in the piston and cylinder assemblies 52 and 53 arepositively connected to the gear racks 51. The lower piston and cylinderassembly 53 and the upper piston and cylinder assembly 52 connectedtherewith, together with the conduit 54 therebetween, enclose anoncompressible fluid. In the conduit 54, some form of expansion chamberand replenishment device may possibly be provided. On switching of thevalve 56 for pressurizing the piston and cylinder assembly 52, the valve56 opens the conduit to the piston and cylinder assembly 53, whereby thegear racks 51 will commence to be driven downwardly into the piston andcylinder assembly 53 and rotate the gearwheels 50 for simultaneouspositive pivoting of the arms 17 with the grippers 16 from one stationto the immediately subsequent station. When the grippers 16 of theimmediately subsequent station have been closed and grasp the arrivingcore 13, the grippers 16 on the arms 17 of the preceding station areopened to release the core and, after switching of the valve 56 to itsopposite position, the conduit 55 is opened and the piston and cylinderassembly 53 is pressurized for switching the arms 17 back to theirstarting position. The conduit 54 between the lower piston and cylinderassembly 53 and the upper piston and cylinder assembly 52 and thenoncompressible fluid located therein ensure the simultaneous pivotingof the arms 17 in an extremely simple and operationally reliable manner.

Many modifications of the apparatus according to the present inventionare, naturally, conceivable without departing from the inventive conceptas defined in the appended Claims. The piston and cylinder assembliesmay be of different types, for example, pneumatic and/or hydraulic,while the motors may be electric or pneumatic and/or hydraulic. Thepositional sensors may be of many different types, such as, for example,photoelectric cells, magnetic, electromagnetic etc. However, all sensorsare intended to generate and emit suitable signals to control equipmentwhich may be programmed by means of a computer, this in itself being atechnique well-known to persons skilled in this art.

I claim:
 1. An apparatus for the arrangement and preparation of coresintended for use as reel cores inpapermaking, essentially comprisedof:one or more stations with tools for executing a number of workingoperations, wherein the stations are disposed in a side-by-siderelationship; and said stations have openable and closable grippers forthe retention of that core which is to be prepared in each respectivestation, under the execution of one or more working operations therein;and said stations have arms located at each end of the core, whereinsaid openable and closable grippers are disposed on the one free end ofan arm, and with said arm being pivotal about a shaft at the oppositeend from said grippers; and said arms being interconnected for thesimultaneous pivoting about the shaft for he transfer of a core, beingheld substantially non-rotatable by means of the grippers, from aninitial station to a subsequent station, in which the open grippers ofhe subsequent station are arranged to close about the core and therebygrasp and fixedly hold the core in an orientationally controlledposition, before the grippers at the preceding station are opened forrelease of said core.
 2. An apparatus for the arrangement andpreparation of cores according to claim 1, wherein one arm located atthe one end of the core is displaceable towards and away from the otherarm disposed for adaptation of the distance between the arms to thelength of said core, each arm having a set of openable and closeablegrippers.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherien the displaceablearm is coupled to a carriage which carries the tool or tools forexecuting the working operations in and/or on the end of said core andis, in its turn, displaceable on rails for adaptation to the length ofeach one of the cores, like the corresponding carriage in the otherstations, in which the carriages in the subsequent stations are arrangedto adjust in compliance with the carriage in the preceding station. 4.An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said carriage is displaceableby means of a screw which is located on substantially the same level assaid rails, and proximal to the longitudinal axis of the core located inthe working position.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 1, whereby thestations are disposed in parallel with one another in such a manner thatthe distance between the center of a core fixedly held by the grippersand the center of the pivoting shaft of said arms is equal in andbetween the stations.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidpivoting shaft of the arms carries a gear wheel for cooperation with agear rack having a piston and cylinder assembly at each end, these beinginterconnected for positive simultaneous switching of the gear racks forclockwise or counterclockwise pivoting of the arms non-rotatablyconnected therewith.
 7. An apparatus according to claim 1, whereby thereis provided, at one station, a conveyor for the advancement of thefittings to each core end, at which there is disposed a reciprocal armfor the one-by-one displacement of the fittings from said conveyor to astaring position for rotational orientation of the fitting, anorientation in which a clamping device fixedly clamps the fitting forgripping by means of the openable and closable grippers in the orientedposition.
 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the grippers aremounted on a frame that is switchable between a vertical position and aninclined position, via a retainer pivotal on the frame and displaceablewin the longitudinal direction of the frame, for transferring thefitting oriented in the starting position of the grippers to a positionin register with the prepared core end for insertion and thereafterexpansion therein by means of a mandrel.